Sport
9 January, 2023
Sporting highlights of 2022 - January to March
As usual the sporting year started off slow before slowly snowballing into a year full of unbeaten accolades, broken records and unforeseen premiership wins, read along for a compiled list of local's best best sporting achievements of 2022.
JANUARY kicked off with Mareeba born Kurt Sheppard winning the first PBR of the year in Rockhampton before Kara Trimble won gold in the All-Stars Alliance Crossfit games, coming first in her age group after competing in Brisbane.
In February the Mareeba Gladiators welcomed back Chris Sheppard as head coach of the A-grade side while the Mareeba Bulls Football Club announced their new coaches for the upcoming season as ex-premier player Kane Alderton stepped into a pair of coach’s shoes to lead the Premier Men’s side and we explored the life of one of the region’s best and most proficient campdrafters, Anastasia Theocaro.
Veteran swimming coach June Cotter returned to her roots in her hometown of Atherton and took on the job of head coach at the Platypus Swimming Club as rising cricket stars Amy Hunter and Abby Toshach were selected to play in the Queensland Country Open Women’s side.
Mareeba District Cricket Club third grade were named the minor premiers in the 2021/22 season after their win against rivals Barron which then turned into being major premiers as well after a wash-out win and Atherton’s Patrick Stevens was the only one his age in Cairns or on the Tablelands to be selected for the for the Australian National Hockey Championships.
To kick off March Australian netball legend Vicki Wilson visited Mareeba and ran clinics for young up and coming netball stars while the local rugby league season kicked off with Mareeba and Atherton playing their first trial matches of the year and Momentum Gymnastics’ Emily Mills was named the Tablelands first ever level 10 gymnast.
